Phoenix Rising: The Prophecy Begins
by BlueBoxAhead
Summary: Prequel to the Phoenix Rising saga. Alex Clarke is the Phoenix. From the moment they met, the Doctor felt an undeniable connection between them. So when she's erased from time, she fits in on the TARDIS perfectly. Running from their legacies, they come to find that the stories of the Doctor and the Phoenix have only just begun to intertwine. Post-Donna Ser 4 rewrite. Future 11xOC.
1. (1) Woven Paths

p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"strongA/N: Welcome to the prologue of Phoenix Rising! I really hope you like it, I've been working on this story for a while now. I'm always open to constructive criticism, and taking a minute out of your day to write something in the comments would mean the world to me./strong/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"strongEnjoy!/strong/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"strong~Jamie/strong/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"The Wixxa stood in front of the Seam with his head held high, masking the fear that coursed through his veins. They had failed to capture the Phoenix once more. It had been over a month with no success, and another half since the time they had arrived-that was more than fifty days on this stinking planet, and they still weren't any closer to getting off of it./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"It was a dangerous task. He had heard the legends, everyone had. The Phoenix was a being to be feared. She could tear down the universe with a single word if it was her will. The resolve of even the bravest warriors would crumble under her gaze. They were just lucky that she wasn't searching for them. It was out of the ordinary for the Phoenix to back away from disaster, to hide away in the shadows. But that was what they saw: the Phoenix shying away from danger, instead of jumping in headfirst. The Wixxa couldn't figure out what was worse./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"They weren't a cruel tribe, or even violent, for that matter. They had prided themselves on that fact, when the rest of their world turned into bloodthirsty monsters. But perhaps now the time for peace has ended./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Perhaps Zadra would be the one that led his tribe out of the darkness and back into the light. Into life. He didn't know how long his tribe could even survive in their new terrain. Despite their low metabolism and advanced biology, it was impossible for them to obtain their needed nutrients through the food of the humans they so closely resembled. He was their leader, chosen to protect his tribe, and he wasn't about to go back on his oath. He would keep them safe, at any cost./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"The Seam glowed slightly, and Zadra instinctively shuffled back a few steps. The Speaker had told him what that light could do, and how dangerous it was. The Speaker was their ticket to freedom. He had promised the Wixxa the key to escaping from Earth, at one request. They must bring him the Phoenix./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Alive./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"strong. . . . ./strong/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"The streets of Seattle are rarely calm, but anyone that lives in a city can tell you that. On the sidewalk, both tourists and resident Seattleites wandered about, the heat of the summer sun beating down on them from under the sparse clouds. Children excitedly tugged on the hands of their parents, begging for a treat from the ice cream van parked nearby. Others gravitated towards the various employees that stood outside stores holding trays of samples./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Suddenly, two figures skidded around the corner, running as fast as they could up the street. The pair of teenage girls yelled for people to watch out, without slowing down to give them time to do so. With their free arms out in front of them to deflect any stray bags or limbs in their way, they booked it through the crowd./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"As was the new life of Alex and May./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Four-A!" Alex waved to the left wildly, pushing the strap of her backpack up onto her shoulder, "Four-A! Get to the four-A!" She called out, as a third figure turned the corner in pursuit. It was a man in a black suit, of a sturdy build and quite intimidating. Alex glanced back at the man who, despite not being able to bob and weave through the swarms of people like the two girls, was still gaining on them, emfast/em./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"May seemed to notice this as well, and decided to slow him down the first way she thought of. As she ran past the store-employees, she swung her arms into the trays, sending them up in the air and scattering the samples in the wind. Alex had a similar idea, knocking down displays and wheeling kiosks in the way./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"May, taking her partial Canadian heritage to heart, barked out a short 'sorry' with every toss, push, and shove. Alex had her cruiser-skateboard tucked under one arm, holding the other in front of her, trying to shove past the passersby like a football player. Not that it was very effective, but it was worth a shot./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"People screamed in surprise as a black van screeched to a stop next to the sidewalk, and others jumped out of the way. The side door slid open, and out poured not one, but two more men in identical black attire, and they followed behind Alex and May as well./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Without a single word to each other, both girls parted ways, in an attempt to split up the group into manageable chunks. The original pursuer was closest to Alex, and continued after her, while the other two chased after May./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Alex ran down the street, while May continued up it. They would still both head for the four-A building, through different routes. Alex ended up leading her follower in a full circle twice before taking a sharp turn in the other direction, before he turned the corner. She had turned into a slim alley, Thinking fast, she scrambled up the fire escape overhead, tossing her board up first to free her other arm./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Her chest heaved, but she suddenly cut off her gasp when the man walked into view. She froze completely, but he just glanced down the alley and found nothing. He didn't look up, though, and walked right past. She let out a relieved breath, laying back on the metal grate for a moment to calm down./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"It was Alex's idea to have code names for the buildings, as a safety precaution to keep their hunters one more step behind them. However, it was May's decision to name the buildings by their place on the map. Apparently, 'Flying Fish Mart' wasn't as inconspicuous as 'seven-G'./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Alex looked around, quickly getting her bearings. At this point, she knew the city like the back of her hand, and realized that she had just chosen the best possible fire escape to climb. It was the building right next to the one she was currently sitting on./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"The whole block was abandoned, and a few broke tourists would inspect its crumbling bricks and rustic rusty doors. Hopefully, nobody would see nor mind an unruly teenager climbing the structures. Alex made the four-story climb up the metal escape route, half expecting it to break with each step she took. It didn't however, and she was thankful she didn't have a fear of heights./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"After reaching the top, she kept herself ducked down as she bolted across the roof, just in case anyone was watching from below. The last thing she needed was the police after her. Praying that she didn't misjudge the distance, she took a running start and leaped the gap between the two buildings, tumbling after landing, partially on accident./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Alex tugged on the door to the roof, already unlocked and ajar. She left it open, in case she needed to make a quick exit later, before plunging into the near-pitch-black staircase, the only light coming from the windows on the floor below and the door above. She ran over to a window to see if May was anywhere close. She poked her head out the window into the alley in search of her, but yanked herself back in at what she saw./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"strong. . . . ./strong/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"My heart nearly stopped. May was still so focused on trying to get the door open to get into the building, by the time she heard the van screech to a halt, it was too late. She was trapped. I had to hold my position, if I had any chance of rescuing her. Couldn't very well do that if they had me too. I looked down on the scene from where I hid./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Wow, what a cliche way to abduct someone. In an alleyway, with a van. It was a miracle that there weren't even any homeless people nearby; no witnesses. It took every fiber of my being to stay where I was, ignoring both my fight and flight instincts. I could help much more from the third floor, so I stayed put./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""May! Run! Go, now!" I screamed, with as much strength as I had. My throat still burned, and I found myself contemplating what I would do for a cold bottle of water. I ducked back down before anyone could see me./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"I saw her attempt to run past, but, all of a sudden, the van doors flew open, and a large man in a black suit stepped out, and in front of her passageway. She ran into him at full speed, knocking her backward with the force, not even flinching. I winced as her head hit the pavement with a sickening thud./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""No!" I choked out, holding back a cry of despair. At that moment, my mindset changed. They could call that their first mistake. They just took, and hurt, someone I cared about. I was done with staying away. Now, it just got personal, and they would regret it./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Before they could take her away, I acted. "Hey! Over here!" I yelled, waving my arms over my head to attract their attention. I didn't know what I was doing, it was almost like an instinct. However, it worked./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"The leader pointed an accusing finger up at me. "Get her," he commanded. "Now!" Immediately, his goons raced for the door. I didn't wait to see if it was unlocked./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"With a sudden burst of energy, I grabbed my board, sitting next to me, and tucked it under my arm, rushing to the fourth, and final, floor. They'd try to surround me from the bottom. They already tried that last time, I barely made it out. I had to dive through the stupid dog door, just to escape. After that, I was more careful about how long I stayed in a house I was raiding. Once again, something I never would have considered before./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"I shoved past the already unlocked door, and onto the roof. Without a thought, I leaped from one rooftop to the other. Luckily for me, I wasn't scared of heights. However, I was very much scared of kidnappers in three-piece suits, so I did my best to avoid them./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"I raced down the stairs, skipping four at a time. I burst through the entryway, silently thanking the vandals and their apparent need to remove the door. I could still hear the men shouting in the building, trying to see where I had gone./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"I saw the black van speeding up the street, and without thinking, chased it. At the moment, I wasn't considering what I would do if they caught me. I just had to get my friend back. I had been too concerned with getting myself out of dodge that I had let them get away. They soon drove out of sight, leaving me with heart palpitations and a grudge./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"I forced myself to turn back, to head home. I moved as fast as I could, mapping out what turns to take to confuse any followers. I didn't think there were any, but as I'd just seen, it never hurt to be careful./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Suddenly, I was blindsided by someone who seemingly came out of nowhere, practically flying at me. He knocked me off my board, and it rolled a few feet away, like a pet off its leash. At that moment, I felt a multitude of things, but the surprise and force knocked the wind out of me. As I struggled to breathe, I felt a painful ache in my chest. Ignoring it, I tried to stand, to no avail. Somehow, my legs ended up entangled with his, and his weight pinning me down didn't help either./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Anytime you'd want to move, thanks." I said with a helpful shove, eager to keep moving./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Upon realizing his position, he scrambled to his feet, allowing me to move. He held his hand out, offering to help me up. I hesitantly accepted it, simultaneously sizing him up as he helped me to my feet. He didn't seem that threatening, in a brown pinstripe suit and ratty white converse. His hair was sort of in a tousled disarray, probably intentional. With a lanky figure, he stood a good foot above me, looking about in his early thirties./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"I remembered that I should probably be on my way, after being slowed down. I muttered an apology, and started off. I soon saw that he was following me, and wasn't going to leave anytime soon. I tried to shake him off, but there he was, trotting alongside me, his longer legs putting him at an advantage./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Are you gonna leave me alone? I'm a tad busy, if you don't mind." I said, trying to tell him to go away as politely as I could. he looked up thoughtfully, as if he really had to think about it./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Nope," he said, grinning as he popped the 'p'./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"I sighed. I was really not in the mood for, well, emanything/em right now. The last thing I needed was a liability. The man looked more adapted to life in the office, judging from his attire. Suits weren't usually the best for running in, but he seemed to be getting the job done./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""You're just gonna follow me around? Got nothing better to do?" I asked, but he still didn't take the hint. He must have thought I was being sincere, or something./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Um... basically, yeah." he said, and I noticed his British accent, out of place in the United States. I brushed it off, though, with other things to worry about./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Whatever," I muttered. "Your funeral."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"I turned a corner, and there stood two of the men, brandishing an odd sort of gun, one that I had seen many times in their presence. I stopped, planting my foot on the ground so quickly I nearly stumbled forward, and yanked my new 'friend' back, before he waltzed into view, blowing our cover. I managed to grab his arm, but not soon enough. We had been seen./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Run, now!" I hissed, stomping on the end of my board to pop it up into my hand, shoving the pinstriped man into an alleyway. I had no idea how the men would react in the presence of the general public, but I didn't want to find out. They had always seemed a bit too trigger-happy to me./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"I turned a few corners before accidentally leading us into an alleyway, the men still in pursuit. I pushed the man behind some dumpsters, and he still hadn't said a word, which I found odd. You would think he would put up a fuss at being pushed and ordered around by me, but he seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation with what little information he had, and stayed silent./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"I kept him behind me, in case the men found us. There was no point in them hurting him to get to the person behind him. However, he pushed past me, peeking out a bit. I was about to yank him back to safety, when I saw him pull out a silver tube, with a blue tip. He fiddled with it for a moment, pointing it at the weapons. I found myself peeking out from behind the dumpster as well, literally risking my neck to satisfy my curiosity./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"He pressed a button on the side of it's crackled metal shell, and aimed it at the gun. The blue hemisphere lit up, and the device emitted a high warbling sound. Clearly, this wasn't meant for stealth. The noise was accompanied by the sound of the men's guns sparking, and they dropped them with a clatter, the shock reaching their hands. Instantly, they picked them back up again, confusion riddling their faces because the guns would no longer fire./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"They looked up from their weapons, glancing around for the cause of the shock. Both the pinstriped man and I yanked ourselves back behind the safety of the dumpster, pressing ourselves against the brick wall. I turned to look up at the man, to see how he was reacting. His grin was as big as mine was./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"After a few moments of investigation, the men stopped trying to get their guns to work, pressed a finger to their left ears and nodded simultaneously, then left, which surprised me. They hadn't even stopped to look around for me, even though they obviously knew I was there. Not that I minded, of course. I made a mental note of the occurrence, cautiously stepping out from behind our hiding spot after a few long moments to ensure that they weren't just around the corner./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"With the threat gone, we snuck away, and I started to lead Pinstripes to my makeshift home. It was more of a base, really. I made fake detours and turns like I usually did, and it wasn't until I was nearing home that I realized that he was no longer behind me./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Now, I could have simply just left him. I didn't need him to slow me down. But he had been seen with me, and I couldn't risk someone else's life. Luckily for him, I had a strong moral compass. I retraced my steps and soon found him./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Standing in front of one of the suited men, with a gun pointed at his chest./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Pinstripes looked stupidly unconcerned, but I heard him talking to him, uselessly. I once again had the fleeting thought to just emrun away/em, but forced myself not to. He wasn't the same one that had seen us the first time, but I knew that word travels fast with them. It worried me how close this was to my home, but I could deal with that later./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Making a split-second decision, I ran up to them, reaching into my pocket, pulling out a film canister. I popped off the lid with my thumb, and flung its contents in the face of the man. He roared angrily, dropping the weapon to rub at his face with his hands. His sunglasses were thrown to the ground, and I could see his eyes were scrunched shut. His face had instantly began reddening, and I winced, feeling tremendously guilty./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I bent down and grabbed the gun from the ground and slung the strap over my shoulder, freeing one hand. Pinstripes started pulling me away, latching onto my upper arm that was currently holding my board to my side. In a daze, I almost let him, before remembering what I still had to do, and tugged my arm out of his grip, reaching into the side pocket of my bag and taking out another film canister, rolling it to the feet of the man. Hopefully, he would know what to do./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Pinstripes took my arm and again tried leading me away from the danger. I rolled my eyes, "This way, c'mon!" I said, jerking my head in the general direction. With nothing else to go off of, he followed me./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"I cut across the overgrown yard, skillfully avoiding any obstacles hidden by the grass. Pinstripes, however, wasn't as lucky. He caught his foot on a hole in the ground where a wooden post once stood. In its place used to stand a "For Sale" sign, I assumed. He stumbled forward, bumping into me, sending me forwards a few feet in a domino effect. I managed to stay upright, turning back to see him grinning sheepishly./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Sorry," he said, bounding past me to the porch, hopping up on it to come to a halt in front of the door. It was boarded up, and clearly done years ago. He brought a hand up to trace the frame, clearly confused. I let him ponder that as I tucked my board just barely under the porch, where I could access it easily when I needed it./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"He reached down, trying the handle, but it didn't budge. He slipped the odd tube out of his pocket again, about to use it on the lock, when I protested, "Hey!" I yelled quietly, getting his attention before he could go on, "You're gonna blow my cover. Over here." I said, with a beckoning wave and a small smile on my face. I guess after all this time, deep down, I still needed somebody to witness my cleverness./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"He tucked the device back into his pocket, following me around the side of the house. He must have been expecting me to lead him further, because he bumped into me-again-when I stopped at the piling of firewood. We gave each other an identical look, and I went on, subconsciously showing off./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"I carefully stepped up onto the unstable-looking structure, using them as stairs to reach the chimney behind it. It was comprised of large stones, each separated with a layer of ancient concrete that would crumble if you pecked at it enough. It made it easy to quickly scale the eight-to-nine feet that I needed to get to the terrace over the first floor./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"I scrambled up onto the platform, glad for all of the practice I'd gotten from indoor rock climbing. I kept myself low, shifting to lay on my stomach with my head poking out from the edge to peer at Pinstripes. "Well? You coming?" I asked, with a proud smirk on my face./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"A number of seconds later, he had made it close enough to take hold of my outstretched arm, and we both struggled to get him up onto the ledge. For someone that looked as thin as a toothpick, he sure had some weight to him. Once safely perched, I pushed up the window, climbing through it and jumping down into the room, Pinstripes close behind./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Leading him across the empty room and down the stairs to the first floor, my walk was unobstructed, and I didn't realize that his wasn't until I heard him start sputtering behind me. "Oh, watch out for the cobwebs." I called out, and he muttered a sarcastic "thanks" under his breath./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"We entered the main room, and I could see the gears turning in his head as he took in the state of my "home". A backpack was tossed on what used to be a dining room table, as well as a video camera and a laptop. A paper bag leaning against the wall was filled with empty food packages, cartons, and cans./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Pulling the gun-strap over my head and leaning the weapon against the wall, I gestured to a cheap folding chair for him to sit in, and he cautiously took a seat, wondering if the flimsy plastic would even hold anyone's weight. I couldn't relax enough to stay still, much less sit down. I went over to the table, holding the power button down on the laptop, turning it on. I shrugged my backpack off of my shoulders, dropping it onto the wooden table./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"As it booted up, I turned back to Pinstripes, leaning on the table with my arms folded in front of me. "So," I said, "You're probably wondering what the hell's going on."/p 


	2. (2) Nothing to Lose

Pinstripes nodded, inviting her to continue, and she thought for a moment, before pushing off of the table and pacing over to the window, boarded up save for a slat just above her eyeline. Pushing up onto her toes, she peered out, reassuring herself that they weren't coming. That she was still safe. Pinstripes could tell that she was on edge, and patiently waited for her to calm down slightly. She couldn't stay still, and since she wasn't shaky or otherwise tense, he assumed it was just her nervous tick.

He hoped that she wasn't having to live in this dump, for lack of a better word. He noticed a pair of sleeping bags in the two connected rooms, and scowled the slightest bit. However, she didn't look that bad. She looked slightly thinner than she should, and her eyes had bags underneath them, but still relatively healthy. Dirt dusted her clothes, presumably from all the hiding, but all in all her attire seemed relatively passable.

She smiled softly to herself, with a faint laughing scoff. "I don't know where to start."

May would have loved this. A speechless Alex; a once in a lifetime experience. Alex always had something to talk about. And even if she didn't she would talk anyways, because she couldn't stand stagnant silence.

She paced back over to him, holding out her hand for him to shake. "Alex." she smiled.

He stood up, clasped her smaller hand in his own, "The Doctor." he said smugly, shaking her hand with a smile that faltered slightly when no comment was made about his title. He didn't pin her as someone that would skip over something like that.

She pulled back with a polite smile, before turning on her heel and walking over to her bag, picking it up and fishing around for something in the front pocket.

After a few moments, he had to ask. "That's it? No questions about my name? Not even curious?"

"Nope." she answered, going back over to him with the bag in her arms, "Because you're not staying here." she told him definitely, slapping a handful of crumpled dollar bills into his hands, followed by a handful more, plus change. "There. I don't know how much gas is, but that's gotta be enough to get you there."

The Doctor raised a brow, confused as to what she meant. "Where?"

Alex sighed, "Anywhere that's not here. It's not safe for you."

He scoffed, "What, and it is for you?"

"No, but that's my problem, not yours. I brought you into this, and now I'm getting you out. Simple as that. This is going to end now." she dragged the remaining chair over and sat herself down on it, pulling the computer onto her lap.

"Well, I don't quite think that's true." he stated, making Alex look up at him, as she'd begun working on the laptop. She held his gaze for a moment, before turning back to stare intently at her screen. "In fact, I don't think it's that simple at all." he pressed, " _I_ think that you're very clever, so sending your only help away isn't very characteristic of you."

"They're not harmless, you know." Alex said seriously, making sure that she had his attention. "Those guns are real, and they'll shoot a hole in you if you're not careful."

"I know," he said slowly, wondering where she was going with the conversation.

"Obviously, you don't. You stood in front of loaded gun, without a fleeting thought that, 'y'know, maybe this isn't the safest thing to be doing'." she scolded, "There's a difference between brave and brainless."

"Oh, and ditching your backup and traipsing right into their hands is any better?" the Doctor retorted.

"Who said you were my backup?" she scoffed, having given up trying to get her point across and working on the laptop at the same time.

He looked around pointedly, "The surprising lack of other volunteers?" Alex shot him a glare, even though he couldn't have known the hidden meaning behind his words. " _Or_... I could just call the authorities, because I'm pretty sure that's who you go to when you've got someone trying to kill you." he said, with no intention of actually calling anyone.

"Oh, so we're doing blackmail now?" Alex said in mock-innocence, "Won't work, they've got ears all over the city--" she waved a pointer finger in a circle, "--tried that the first day."

There was a pregnant pause, as both parties stewed in the new information presented to them.

"This 'serious voice' thing isn't working, is it?"

The Doctor sucked his teeth, "Ah, no. Sorry."

Well, it was worth a shot. Seriousness was never my strong suit." she said with an affable quality that suited her much better, with her sincerity ever-present in her eyes. "But I just want to make it perfectly clear; the last thing I want is someone getting hurt because of me. If push comes to shove and I get caught, you leave. Deal?"

He didn't answer, but Alex hoped he had gotten her point. "Anyways, if you're gonna help, you should probably know what we're up against." she thought for a moment, trying to compile weeks worth of information into one comprehensive story. "It'll be easier if I just start from the beginning."

"As you might've noticed, the dudes in the suits aren't exactly _fond_ of me, hence the guns-a-blazin' and all." she spoke quickly, "Speaking of which..." she bounded over to the foreign gun that she had just stolen, carrying it over to the table where she inspected it.

She turned her back on the Doctor, but didn't ignore him completely. "They came to my school as a summer camp gig to train kids for dorm life and college, with half a credit to sweeten the deal. They got five kids from my school, and an even thirty altogether." she poked the casing of what she expected was the fuel source, protected by a spiderweb of plasticy material.

"I figured, 'hey, I'm off to college in a few, might as well get a feel for it,' ya know?" Alex explained, trying to find a latch or something to release the capsule, "But unless this mess gets sorted out, I can kiss that scholarship goodbye." she said in a strained voice, attempting to pry off the protective shell with her bare hands. "Among other things..."

Having clearly overestimated her own strength, her methods proved to be ineffective. Remembering the tube that the Doctor used to short out the guns, she called him over, "Little help here?"

He walked over, pulling the cylinder out of the chest pocket of his suit, pointing it at the casing and setting off a high-pitched buzz. They heard a click, and Alex was able to pop the casing off, picking up the capsule. It was about the size of an American football, and she tried to focus her eyes on the green substance inside. It was light, with eddies in lighter tones, like a gas, but it also appeared to have the characteristics of a liquid.

It was entrancing. Alex stared at it, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. The Doctor observed the girl, whose face lit up with wonder and fascination, the swirling fluorescence reflecting on her bright blue eyes as she was mesmerized by its beauty.

It was a bit surprising to see, actually. From what he had seen, she had been on-the-run for awhile, at least long enough to settle down in a secret hiding spot. His spirits lifted a bit more, knowing that she hadn't lost her childlike curiosity that came second-nature to her.

"Know what it is?" he asked.

She snapped out of her daze, jumping in surprise and tossing the capsule into the air a bit in the process. She fumbled with it for a moment before regaining control over the object and hugging it securely to her chest.

"Well..." she started, handing him the container for him to inspect, "Not exactly. From what we've seen, we know that it's in most of their weapons, but that's about it. Sometimes they'll stop to replace an empty cartridge, but it shoots regular bullets, as far as we know. Just figured I should look into it." she explained, retrieving the laptop and showing him the screen, bringing up the app where she stored all of her videos.

"There's some docs on here with some data too, but most of the stuff we've found is recorded in videos." she messed around with the timing, trying to find the right moment in the video. "I've got most of 'em edited, to cut out the boring bits an' all, so it should be right... here." she pressed 'play', rolling the video.

On the screen played a scene familiar to Alex. It showed the interior of a college dormitory, and the Doctor could tell that it had been recorded on the video camera, and he could picture Alex holding it, the strap helping her keep a grip on the cherished piece of technology. The screen blurred for a few moments, before a new voice spoke up through the speaker.

" _You going to stop spinning anytime soon? You're gonna break the chair at this rate."_ A girl's voice chided.

The spinning stopped, but the view still wobbled for a moment or two before steadying, presumably while Alex recovered from her self-induced dizziness. " _I dunno, I think it'll be a good segue._ " Alex replied from behind the camera, speaking to the girl on the screen, the lense blurring slightly before focusing on her.

The girl's eyes flickered from above the camera to looking right down the lense, before rolling dramatically.

 _"First off, I'm sorry to whoever's watching this. Your director-slash-cameraman's got the attention span of a goldfish."_ She bantered.

 _"Oh, how very Canadian of you, May."_ Alex snarked back, equally friendly. Then the screen froze, followed by mismatched audio that was obviously recorded later and layered on.

 _"That's May Caragan, my best friend since middle school."_ Alex's voice narrated, _"Wears knee socks, has two cats, and is the coolest person I know. Probably smarter than me. Sophomore Valedictorian, and much-appreciated tech genius."_ There was a pause, before she added on a more solemn note, _"Sixteen years old."_

There was a click, and the scene resumed. The two girls bantered back and forth for a few moments, before Alex shushed May. _"Did you hear that?"_

 _"The sound of you losing this argument? Yeah, I-"_

 _"No, shh-shh-shht!"_ Alex cut her off, pointing her index finger in a silencing motion. There was an audible crash coming from outside of their dorm. _"That!"_ she shot out of her chair and to the door, yanking it open with May close behind.

In the hall, most of the doors were open as well, with curious teens peeking their heads out to see what all the commotion was. As the camera skimmed around the hall, looking for action, text popped up next to the faces of some of the students. Alex quickly skipped past that, and restarted the video after they stopped.

The door at the far end of the hall burst open, and in ran another teenager. She slammed the door shut behind her, and frantically locked it. _"Run!"_ she yelled, yet nobody made any movement towards an exit, although some ran over to her in concern, Alex included.

She was hyperventilating, but was clearly trying her hardest to stop. _"What happened?"_ Alex asked, and a chorus of voices followed, asking variations of the same question. _"Are you okay?"_

The girl shook her head, _"No."_ she said quickly, and Alex's arm shot out to grab her shoulder, as she teetered slightly on her feet. _"We need to get out of here! They've got guns, and this room, and i- it-"_

Someone in the background cut her off, _"Guns?"_ he repeated in fear, before he himself was cut off.

 _"Yes! Please, we need to go!"_ the girl begged, and you could practically see the panic rising in her throat.

 _"Guys, run!"_ Alex shouted, taking leadership of the situation, _"RUN!"_ she grabbed hold of the shocked girl's hand, pulling her along with her towards her room. She shoved her forwards into the dorm, before yanking on the fire alarm. _"Take the windows!"_

Hardly anything could be seen on the screen, with all of the movement, but the audio was still perfectly functional, recording the screaming of both the children and the sirens.

"Sorry, I threw my camera in my bag to free up my hands." Alex explained, reaching over and pausing the video. "That was the end of that one, anyway. We've got the whole gist of it on here though." she said, patting the laptop.

"We?" the Doctor asked gently, and saw Alex's face soften, blue eyes glancing to the side to regain her composure.

"May." she answered, looking up to meet the Doctor's gaze. "But I'm gonna get her back. I'm not hiding anymore. They wanted me, so now they're gonna get me." she said, with a hint of a smirk.

"So, you have a plan? Secret weapon?"

Alex confidently opened her mouth to answer, before shutting it. "Er, no..."

"So you're planning on fighting guns and brute force, with what? Determination, a grudge, and film canisters?" the Doctor scoffed, " _That's_ gonna go well. What's in those things, anyway?"

Alex's frown quickly turned into a grin, and she jumped up, running over to the next room and bringing back two containers: a bottle, and what looked like a makeshift frosting pipe made out of a plastic baggie; actually, that's exactly what it was. She handed the Doctor the bottle, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Vinegar?" he read, and Alex nodded, "And..."

"Baking soda." she answered. "Before all hell broke loose at the camp, a small cooking mishap showed that vinegar burned the staff like, well, an acid. It doesn't seem to have any lasting effects or damage, but we couldn't be certain, hence the baking soda paste to try an' help neutralize it." she grinned, quite proud of herself, "Pretty cool, huh?"

The Doctor looked at Alex, shaking his head slightly. "That's... actually pretty clever. Noble, too. I'm sure your parents would be proud."

"Yeah, I guess." Alex shrugged, "I can't wait to see them again, after all this. 'This camp's gonna be great; it'll prepare you for college, and real life!'" she mocked with a chuckle, "Well, I think I'm thoroughly prepared for whatever life wants to throw at me now."

The Doctor thought to ask about whether she thought she was actually going to get out of this and return home, but he held his tongue, as he could picture Donna elbowing him harshly in the side for a comment like that. But that was her alright--keeping the Doctor in line, even when she was long gone. But before he had to fill the silence, a chilling sequence of sounds pierced the air instead.

Both parties turned their heads at the sound of screeching tires, a scream, and a distinct thud. Instantly, Alex jumped to her feet, running down the stairs and out the rusted back door, ditching the safety of her normal escape route. The Doctor called out behind her, but she had more important problems at hand, and left him behind in the dust.

She ran to the curb, looking both ways, finding the source of the sound just up the street. On the ground in front of a suspicious looking SUV, was a figure lying still on the concrete. Racing over to the body, she realized with a sickening drop in her stomach that it was one of her classmates.

"Hey," she called, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her gently, "Bry? Are you okay? Bry!" she repeated, louder this time. She needed to be okay; she had to. She reached a hand towards the girl's neck to check her pulse, but before she could touch her, a cloth bag was yanked over her head roughly.

With her tunnel vision, Alex had failed to notice the suited men sneaking up behind her. She fought to get away, but the man held his arm wrapped tightly around her neck, and with every tug, she felt the painful strain on it. Thinking quickly, she pushed back, instead, and grit her teeth as her head made contact with the man's jaw.

As his grip loosened, she lunged forward, but had hardly made it two more steps before she was caught again, this time pulling the hood up enough to expose her neck, as a needle stabbed into her. She fought to break away, but it soon became more and more of a struggle to move at all, and soon she felt her consciousness fade away altogether, her heels dragging across the pavement to the car.

The Doctor cursed quietly to himself as he ran out onto the street, just in time to see the van speeding away. He glanced back to the deathtrap of a house, which had been a pain in the arse to find his way out of--wasting precious moments searching for an exit when he could have been saving Alex.

Then again, Alex had rushed past without him, right into their trap. That wasn't his fault. He recognized the meaning to her actions, though, even if she didn't. She heard a cry for help, and she reacted in the only way that felt natural: going to the rescue. However, she felt like she had nothing to lose. A mentality which, the Doctor knew, was extremely dangerous.

A **/N: A special shout-out to OnceadiaryintheTARDIS and for following/favoriting, and It'sJustMeCami for reviewing too! Comments are a big source of motivation for me when it comes to writing, so your words are much appreciated!**

 **Reviews**

 **It'sJustMeCami: _I'm glad you enjoyed the story- er, chapter so far! I hope you liked this chapter too, and it wasn't too long of a wait._**


	3. (3) Caught

Zadra stood at the front entrance, tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for the SUV to arrive with its precious cargo. His eyes lit up when he saw the van careen around the corner, wincing as the vehicle screeched to a halt. He took a step back as the doors slid open, and out stepped a man, carrying a slight figure with a bag over its head. As soon as he was out, the van peeled off.

"Sir-" he started, but Zadra silenced him with a hiss, glaring at him with a look that warned him not to test him. The man couldn't help but wonder what had happened to his friend, before shaking his head in defeat. They had all changed since the war.

"Take her inside." Zadra ordered, "Quickly, quickly." he ushered them into the building, leading them to the room where the Seam resided. However, the brute stopped five feet shy of the door, refusing to take even a step closer until he got answers.

"What are you going to do with her?"

Zadra faltered. He knew the others would object to the Speaker's plan. They didn't understand the full scope of their situation, that desperate times call for desperate measures. They were too peaceful anyway, Zadra thought.

"You know what we have to do."

"You can't even bring yourself to say it, can you, Zad?" the man asked, feeling questionably defensive of the body in his arms. "This is too risky."

"What other option do we have?" Zadra snapped, "Beg her to save us? Ask _nicely_? Don't tell me you let Jase and Mara get in your head?"

The man furrowed his brows, sending a hurt glare to his leader. " _Don't_. They gave their lives to save us, don't you dare take that in vain."

"I know, I know." Zadra sighed, "I'm just trying to save my people. You have to understand that."

"We used to be better." the man said, reluctantly transferring the body to Zadra's arms, "If this is what we've come to, I can't help but wonder if we're even the same people we thought were worth saving."

"We do what we must to survive," Zadra said, shaking his head solemnly as he shifted the girl's weight. As a former professor, he wasn't exactly built for grunt work like his comrade.

As the man walked away, Zadra went about carefully lugging her-with minor difficulty-through the door, carefully laying her down in front of the Seam.

Making sure the door was shut, Zadra laid her down, pulling the bag off of her head. He studied her carefully, before looking to the Seam. "Are you sure this is her?" he asked skeptically, wondering how something that looked like that could really be the embodiment of all the legends and lore. Still, when she shifted slightly, he took a healthy step back.

The Speaker's answer reverberated throughout the entire room, a booming voice with the soft sound of a whisper. A voice that no one ever dared question.

"Yes."

Zadra couldn't help a small grin from forming on his face. He had just saved his kind. "So, you've got her." he started, his euphoria giving him a mistaken sense of bravery, "Now save us."

" _Leave."_

Zadra furrowed his brows, "We need to leave, we can't last much longer." he protested, but received no answer.

" _Now."_

Zadra huffed, but ground his teeth and held his tongue as he walked over to the door. "We had a deal. Break it, and you're committing genocide." he reminded the Speaker, pulling the door shut, and leaving the girl to the mercy of the Seam.

As soon as they were alone, tendrils of light began to stretch from the Seam, reaching for her as she began to stir. Wrapping around her legs like ivy, they climbed up until they reached her chest. The light spiraled around the center of her heart, before sinking in with a fierce stabbing pain. Even on the brink of consciousness, the torture was excruciating, almost sending her back under.

Almost.

Instead, she lingered on the edge of awareness, as the pain spread throughout her entire body. She could feel every fiber of her being burning and pushing and pulling; painfully aware of each cell mutating and morphing under her skin.

It was the worst pain she had ever felt, and she was only half there to feel it. Then, just when she couldn't bear any more, when she wondered if even death hurt this much, it all at once stopped, and the blessing of unconsciousness took her once more.

 **. . . . .**

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the feeling of ice picks stabbing me between the ribs from all directions. With a groan, I squeezed my eyes shut tightly until the pain faded a moment later, before slowly opening my eyes, still heavy with sleep.

Fortunately, that was soon taken care of, as my eyes widened and I yanked my head back at the sight of Bry, inches from my face with a sly smirk on her face. My natural instinct was to protect myself with my arms, but I soon realized that they were stuck behind my back, cuffed at the wrists. She leaned back in her own chair, which had been pulled close to mine.

"You're up." Bry stated cheerily, "Good. I'd been getting bored."

My mouth opened and shut a few times, as everything I tried to say caught in my throat. "Bry! You-" I cut myself off, eyeing her suspiciously, before glancing around the room to see that we were in the corner of an empty classroom of what I assumed to be the 'empty' college. "Last time I saw you, you'd been decked by a car."

"Faked it." she shrugged, "No hard feelings, right?"

I sat in a stunned silence, but soon broke through that. " _You're one of them?_ " I managed to yell, before Bry's hand slapped over my mouth, and I realized I was probably a bit loud.

"Yes, now _shush_." she hissed, "They're expecting you to be out for a while, so unless you want someone else guarding you, I'd stay quiet. Because, unlike my superstitious comrades, I don't think you're all that bad, _Phoenix_."

I started talking again, muffled by her hand, and she took the hint and removed it. "Why'd they think that I'm bad?" I asked again, "And what do you mean, 'Phoenix?'"

Bry cocked her head, giving me the side-eye. "You really don't know, do you?" she asked, another grin forming on her face. "Oh, this is precious. You mean this isn't all an act, you _really_ think you're just Alex Clarke?"

"I am!" I exclaimed, in a shout that bordered embarrassingly on a yelp. "I _am_ Alex Clarke. Always have been, always will be. I don't know what you're talking about."

Bry laughed, "You really don't live up to the legend, you know that? Guess that's the problem with taking a time traveler-you never know which one you'll get."

"What? Time tra- _what_? I sputtered, still incredibly confused.

"This must be your beginning-" Bry said, ignoring my plight, before her mouth dropped open as the realization hit her.

"They're gonna take your P.E."

"They're taking my Gym class?" I asked wryly, cocking an eyebrow.

"No, not your Phys Ed, your potential energy." she corrected, "If they get rid of you now, that means you never get to _become_ the Phoenix."

"A paradox…" I murmured, the blood draining from my face as I realized what that entailed. What it meant for me.

"But why would they do that?" she muttered, before growling. "Ugh! Those stupid, propaganda-filled _idiots!_ It's the Seam, it's brainwashing them. They already thought you were dangerous, and with what that stupid crack is probably filling their heads with, they're willing to overlook the other part of your history."

I groaned exasperatedly, glad the chair was low enough for my toes to reach the floor so I could bounce my leg as I tried to wrap my head around this entire situation, which had just become a hundred times more complicated and insane. Did I really want to know all of this? Of course I did, this was a life-changing discovery. But on the other hand, how dangerous would it be to know my future?

"What part?" I heard myself say, before I could stop myself. I hated myself for it, but at the same time, I couldn't force my mouth to form the words 'Don't answer that.'

Bry opened her mouth to speak, but shut it quickly, choosing her words carefully. "It's all a matter of perspective. The myths tell of the atrocities you committed against our planet, but they leave out _why_. My parents knew the truth. They had access to these ancient stories about how you overthrew the rule of a tyrant, and saved a whole race of innocent people. Unfortunately, only the losing side was able to write the history books."

"An entire planet hates my guts because of fake news?" I scoffed, "Perfect."

"If it's any consolation, _I_ think the good things you do outweigh the bad things."

"Thanks," I said flatly. "But that doesn't explain why you need my P.E.."

Bry scoffed, "It's a long story." she said in a satirical lilt, probably having picked up on the common phrases of human culture.

"Does it look like I'm going anywhere?" I asked, equally sarcastic, nodding down to my restraints. "Which you can untie me from anytime you want, by the way. Preferably soon, I'm getting antsy."

She shrugged. "I doubt anyone's gonna come in, but if they see that you've gotten out, you'll be stuck back in that chair faster than you can say 'Wait, I can explain.' Plus, you'd get a new guard, which I'm assuming you don't want. Speaking of," she said, standing up to go check the door.

"Fine," I groaned reluctantly, watching her stand up and walk to the door, peeking out carefully before strolling back over to me.

"Good," she said, flashing me a quick smile. She paced around me, trying to figure out what to say.

"The thing is, we're sort of the last of our race... At least, that we know. We've been stuck here for a few months, so we haven't exactly been able to ask around to see if anyone else made it too."

Despite her casual tone, she wrung her hands nervously. I recognized the move, and felt a pang of sympathy for her. Behind my back, I twisted my arms, which were becoming increasingly sore as time went on. It certainly wasn't a comfortable position for me to be in, not to mention stressful. On top of my ADHD, after weeks of being on edge all the time, being quite literally stuck in one spot was doing a number on my nerves. I just wanted to _move_.

"Anyway, there was a disaster back home, on good old Oerilia." she continued, "Our planet had this sort of life source, Cusil. Everything depended on it, like water for you guys, only not-renewable. We figured out how to use it for everything, and we did. But after thousands of years of sucking the heart of Oerilia dry, we were the unlucky generation that got stuck with the consequences."

"You should stay here and advocate for global warming," I mused, trying to lighten the mood.

" _Shut it,_ " she said, before clearing her throat. "As I was saying, our world was pretty much over. We got violent, turning on each other to fight for the last of the power. The other planets in our solar system put us under quarantine; just decided to just let us die out."

"That's horrible!" I cried, keeping in mind of my volume, "How could they do that?"

"Not too hard to turn a blind eye," she shrugged. "Our faction-the ones here, now-were the few that didn't want to fight. We hid in an old drilling rig, and took in who we could. Most were weak from their travels, and had gone without Cusil for so long… We'd put them right up next to it, but we lost so many."

Bry stopped pacing, instead stopping in front of me to hug her arms to her sides. Now that she had stopped moving, I could see just how hard she was fighting to keep her tone even. Her face was steeled in determination, and she couldn't even meet my eye.

"By the time we had left, there weren't many people left alive, at least not that we could find. We sent out scouts, but all we saw was _death_. Bodies rotting in the street, contaminating even more of the Cusil that was too late to save them."

"I'm so sorry," I said, furrowing my brows as I thought of the scene she described.

"The only others were a band of people that thought it would be better to burn our planet, rather than let all of us suffer and die out. And when they found out we were sitting on top of a giant power reserve, they came at us with all they had. It was a miracle we made it out alive… Most of us, anyway."

"Leaving the reserve meant letting them get to the energy we left," she said, pulling her chair to her and letting herself collapse into it. "Leaving the reserve meant letting them get to the energy we left. My parents were the ones guarding it that day. When we locked those doors, they were left on the other side… Didn't even get to say goodbye." Bry said, her eyes watering with tears that she refused to let fall.

I wracked my brain for something to say, but found nothing. What do you tell someone who's just lost their parents? 'Sorry' didn't cut it. Thankfully, she went on before I could say the wrong thing.

"We had a choice. We could either leave and let them blow up the planet, or die trying to stop them… We took the coward's way out. We let them implode the planet, along with anyone left on it. That's on us."

I could feel the anger in her voice at her confession. It was bitter, and I could tell she held hatred for it. Towards _who_ , I didn't know.

"No, that's on _them_." I argued, "You said you didn't know if there was anyone left; it wasn't your fault. Or anyone else here." I said, finding myself defending the people that had made my life a living hell these past months.

"I know," she mumbled, "But you can't help but wonder."

"You're always going to be wondering about something, Bry. It's human na- it's natural. Regret's a normal part of life. Staying hung up on the past stops you from ever making decisions in the present. You can mourn, but beating yourself up over it won't do you any good now."

Bry was silent for a moment, mulling over what I said. Then she clicked her tongue and got back on track, unwilling to accept my statement. "By the time we got here, we were already halfway into the Cusil supply. We're trying our best to save energy, but we're running out. And there's nothing we can do about it."

"Well then, we'd better figure something out," I said, a smirk forming on my face. "Luckily for you, I've got an idea on where to start."


End file.
